EDITORIAL: Mack's joyous lame duck ride goes on

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees citizens the right to a speedy and public trial.

Apparently, this longtime pillar of our justice system doesn’t account for the right of the people as a whole to have a speedy trial held for someone they employ.

Mayor Tony Mack was elected by the people of Trenton to be their mayor, and he continues in that position, as he is unequivocally innocent until proven guilty.

At this rate, though, it’s going to be a while before that can even be possible.

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While on the topic of amendments, Judge Michael Shipp and the attorneys for Mack and his alleged co-conspirators met behind closed doors Thursday to decide on another seven-month delay in what was, at minimum, a violation of the spirit of the First Amendment.

This is a public figure whom the people have elected and whose salary they have paid. This is a man who is responsible for providing them services and good government, and the people deserve to know a. whether their mayor is corrupt and b. how long they have to permit him to serve if he is.

The trial is now set for Jan. 6, 2014, nearly a year after the originally scheduled date, but no good reasons for this gigantic delay have been given.

The arrest, indictment, trial, sentencing and incarceration of former Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo could all have fit inside the mere prologue of this trial.

Heck, Mack should start thinking about fundraising for another run the way things are going.

He’s got nothing but time, it seems.

Time that is wasting away while Trenton falls into disrepair. Time to continue the reign of a potentially lame-duck regime that has no chance of mending its relationship with its own city council, much less with the governor’s office or any other reputable body that can help this city.

And this city does need help.

But Mack’s time in office will go on, seemingly almost to the end of its term. If he’s innocent of the charges against him, that’s all fine and good, but the perception of Mack is what it is. No one wants to work with him because they think he’s on his way out anyway — either by conviction or eventual ouster by the voters — and most of his political peers don’t like the job he is doing to begin with.

The city council tried to drive Mack out with a vain attempt at a salary reduction, but even if that had been successful, it would have been unlikely to convince Mack to resign.

There’s no way around it — Mayor Mack is here to stay for a while.

It’s not too late to get your “Mack in 2014” bumper stickers, but make sure you’re buying them to support his re-election campaign.

If you’re looking for memorabilia from the trial, it’s probably too early to print anything up with a specific year, because this trial has been anything but speedy.